Ultrafast Vortex Pulses

Dear Colleagues,

Currently, there is a boom in studies on “twisted light”, accompanied by exciting new developments in quantum optics, fiber optics, microscopy, quantum informatics, and optical communication. With the commercial availability of ultrashort-pulsed light sources, a particular branch of this field of research has now moved into sharp focus. Ultrafast vortex pulses combine the rotational degrees of freedom of orbital angular momentum and/or spin angular momentum with the specific features of ultrashort pulses, such as temporal localization, high peak intensities, and large spectral bandwidths. The application of vortex-shaped wave-packets holds numerous kinds of promise: to provide an improved understanding of the dynamics of atomic and molecular processes, to enable the generation of unprecedented short flashes of light, to facilitate the exploitation of enhanced selectivity in interactions with material having chiral properties, to provide a means for massively parallel optical data transfer, or to furnish advanced approaches for the ultrafast excitation of magnetic materials. Our Special Edition is intended to cover the full spectrum of such activities, ranging from basic theory, over advanced methods for formation and detection, through to very recent applications of ultrafast singular optics, such as attosecond pulse generation, high-resolution imaging, and fast optical information processing. Particular emphasis will be placed on array-specific problems like self-imaging, adaptive optical methods of structured beam shaping and characterization, and the emerging capabilities of super-resolution techniques in the spatial and temporal domain.

Prof. Dr. David Andrews
Dr. Ruediger Grunwald
Guest Editors

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